Mechanism of Action

By inhibiting ChoKα, TCD-717 destroys cancer cells with minimal effects on normal cells. Different responses to ChoKα inhibition between cancer and normal cells derives from the addiction of cancer cells to phosphatidylcholine, a phospholipid regulated by ChoKα. While ChoKα inhibition causes a temporary and reversible arrest of proliferation in normal cells, cancer cells attempt to overcome this by activating an alternative mechanism for generating phosphatidylcholine. This enables cancer cells, to some extent, to continue phosphatidylcholine production, but also leads to the production of Ceramide, a lethal metabolite that promotes apoptosis (programmed cell death) causing specific destruction of the cancer cells.

By inhibiting ChoKα TCD-717 results in the activation of an alternative mechanism for generating phosphatidylcholine. This alternative mechanism enables the cell, to some extent, to continue the phosphatidylcholine production process, however it also leads to the production of Ceramide, a lethal metabolite that promotes apoptosis (programmed cell death) and causes the specific destruction of the cancer cells.

It is this different response to ChoKα inhibition between tumor cells and normal cells that makes TCD-717 a uniquely effective targeted treatment with an evident and overwhelming advantage over conventional, non-specific chemotherapy.